The following is a list of notable deaths in October 2008.
Entries for each day are listed alphabetically by surname. A typical entry lists information in the following sequence: Name, age, country of citizenship at birth, subsequent country of citizenship (if applicable), reason for notability, cause of death (if known), and reference.
October 2008
1 Ian Collier, 65, British singer and actor (Doctor Who). Robert Couturier, 103, French sculptor. J. Don Ferguson, 74, American actor (Norma Rae, Maximum Overdrive, Major League: Back to the Minors), leukemia.J. Don Ferguson: Actor never left Savannah Bill Flagg, 79, British Anglican prelate, Bishop of Peru (1973–1977). Daphney Hlomuka, 59, South African actress, kidney cancer. Val Jansante, 88, American football player (Pittsburgh Steelers). Detlef Lewe, 69, German canoeist, 1972 Olympic bronze medalist, after brief illness. House Peters Jr., 92, American actor (Mr. Clean), pneumonia. Nick Reynolds, 75, American folk musician (The Kingston Trio), acute respiratory disease. Arlene Sherman, 61, American television producer (Sesame Street). LeJuan Simon, 27, Trinidadian athlete, complications of pulmonary hypertension. Poornam Viswanathan, 88, Indian actor, multiple organ failure. Boris Yefimov, 108, Russian political cartoonist.
2 George Anselevicius, 85, Lithuanian-born American architect.https://www.abqjournal.com/obits/profiles/23852330347obitsprofiles10-23-08.htm Bonnie Bluh, 82, American feminist writer, aortic dissection. *Choi Jin-sil, 39, South Korean actress, suicide by hanging. Rob Guest, 58, British-born New Zealand actor and singer, stroke. Anna Hagemann, 89, German Olympic athlete. Shaharom Husain, 88, Malaysian historian. Kataejar Jibas, 55, Marshallese politician, mayor of Bikini Atoll since 2007, injuries from a car accident. John Sjoberg, 67, British footballer (Leicester City F.C.).
3 Zulfiqar Ahmed, 82, Pakistani cricketer, cardiac arrest. Mahir al-Zubaydi, Iraqi al-Qaeda leader, shot. Geoffrey Davis, 74, Australian doctor. Jean Foyer, 87, French politician, Minister of Justice (1962–1967) and Minister of Health (1972–1973). Frederick Charles Hurrell, 80, British Royal Air Force officer. Hugo Ironside, 90, British soldier. Johnny "J", 39, American hip-hop producer, apparent suicide by jumping. Rajendra Singh Lodha, 66, Indian accountant, chairman of the Birla Corporation, heart attack. George Thomson, Baron Thomson of Monifieth, 87, British businessman and journalist, MP (1952–1973), viral infection.
4 Harry Bath, 83, Australian national rugby league player and coach, after long illness. Ted Briggs, 85, British sailor, last survivor of the sinking of . Fred Degazon, 95, 1st president of Dominica.Frederick Eutrope Degazon Craig Fertig, 66, American football player and coach, kidney failure. Al Gallodoro, 95, American jazz musician, after brief illness. Derek Jones, 81, British colonial official, Hong Kong Secretary for Economic Services (1973–1976), Environment (1976–1981). Saul Laskin, 90, Canadian politician, first mayor of Thunder Bay, heart attack. Peter Vansittart, 88, British writer.
5 Ernest Beutler, 80, American hematologist, lymphoma. Beth A. Brown, 39, American NASA astrophysicist, pulmonary embolism. Kim Chan, 90, Chinese-born American actor (Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, The Fifth Element, Lethal Weapon 4). Leopoldo Elia, 82, Italian legal scholar, President of the Constitutional Court, Minister of Foreign Affairs (1994). Servando González, 85, Mexican documentary film director. Mohamed Moumou, 43, Iraqi al-Qaeda second-in-command, shot. Howard G. Munson, 84, American judge. Iba N'Diaye, 80, Senegalese painter, heart failure. Ken Ogata, 71, Japanese actor (The Ballad of Narayama), liver cancer. Hans Richter, 89, German actor and director (Emil and the Detectives). Lloyd Thaxton, 81, American television personality, multiple myeloma.
6 Murad Abro, 42, Pakistani politician, road accident. Peter Avery, 85, British scholar and Iranian specialist. Larry Belcher, 61, American politician, member of Kentucky House of Representatives (1999–2002, since 2006), car accident. Paul Clark, 68, British judge. Peter Cox, 82, Australian politician. Paavo Haavikko, 77, Finnish poet and playwright, after long illness. Olga Kaljakin, 57, American art director and film poster artist (The Last Samurai, Field of Dreams, Moonstruck), emphysema. Kim Ji-hoo, 23, South Korean actor and model, suicide by hanging. Nadia Nerina, 80, South African ballerina. Janaka Perera, 62, Sri Lankan general and politician, bomb blast injuries. Anne Margrethe Strømsheim, 94, Norwegian resistance member. Sir John Young, 88, Australian jurist, Chief Justice of Victoria (1974–1991), Lieutenant-Governor of Victoria (1974–1995).
7 Peter Copley, 93, British actor. Cozzene, 28, American Thoroughbred racehorse, euthanized. Bruce Dal Canton, 66, American baseball player, esophageal cancer. Leslie Hardman, 95, British Army Jewish chaplain at liberation of Bergen-Belsen. George Kissell, 88, American baseball coach (St. Louis Cardinals), car accident. Ivar Mathisen, 88, Norwegian Olympic silver medal-winning (1948) sprint canoer. DeWayne McKinney, 47, American ATM entrepreneur wrongfully convicted of murder, traffic accident. George Emil Palade, 95, Romanian cell biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (Physiology or Medicine, 1974). Princess Rooney, 28, American Thoroughbred racehorse, euthanized. Miles Richmond, 85, British painter.
8 David Akutagawa, 71, Japanese Canadian martial artist, heart attack. Chicão, 59, Brazilian footballer. Jim Drake, 77, British rugby league player. Bob Friend, 70, British newscaster, cancer. Gidget Gein, 39, American bassist (Marilyn Manson), drug overdose. Pete Goegan, 74, Canadian ice hockey player (Detroit Red Wings, Minnesota North Stars, New York Rangers).Peter John Goegan Tanya Halesworth, 73, Australian television news presenter, cancer. Eileen Herlie, 90, British-born American actress (Hamlet, All My Children), complications of pneumonia. Norman Hogg, Baron Hogg of Cumbernauld, 70, British politician, MP (1979–1997), cancer. Cliff Malone, 83, Canadian ice hockey player (Montreal Canadiens), heart failure.Clifford Malone Les McCrabb, 93, American baseball player (Philadelphia Athletics).
9 Karl Albert, 87, German philosopher and professor. Albert Hall, 74, American hammer throw champion, complications from Alzheimer's disease. Milan Kymlicka, 72, Czech-born Canadian composer and conductor. David Lett, 69, American winemaker, heart failure. Bert Loxley, 74, British footballer and manager, after long illness. Ardeshir Mohasses, 70, Iranian illustrator and cartoonist, heart attack. Judith Wachs, 70, American musician (Voice of the Turtle) and promoter of Sephardic music, cancer.
10 James Benson, 63, American entrepreneur (SpaceDev), brain tumor. Alton Ellis, 70, Jamaican singer, lymphatic cancer. Sid Hudson, 93, American baseball player. Aslam Khattak, 100, Pakistani politician and diplomat, after long illness. Gerald Leeman, 86, American wrestler, Olympic silver medallist (1948). Kazuyoshi Miura, 61, Japanese businessman, murder suspect, suicide by hanging. Javad Nurbakhsh, 81, Iranian spiritual leader. Jiřina Petrovická, 85, Czech actress. Alexey Prokurorov, 44, Russian cross-country skier, car accident. Leo Rosner, 90, Polish-born Australian musician, Holocaust survivor in Schindler's List, complications of Alzheimer's disease. Summing, 30, American thoroughbred racehorse and sire, natural causes. Kurt Weinzierl, 77, Austrian actor.
11 Vija Artmane, 79, Latvian actress, complications from strokes. Daniel Awdry, 84, British politician, MP for Chippenham (1962–1979). William Claxton, 80, American photographer, complications of heart failure. Kevin Foster, 39, American baseball player, renal cancer. Jörg Haider, 58, Austrian politician, Governor of Carinthia (1989–1991, since 1999), leader of the FPÖ and BZÖ, car accident. Russ Hamilton, 76, British singer. Ernst-Paul Hasselbach, 42, Surinamese-born Dutch television producer, car accident. Neal Hefti, 85, American composer ("Batman Theme", "The Odd Couple Theme"), heart attack. William J. Higginson, 69, American poet and translator. Randy Johnston, 20, American male model, accidental drug overdose. Hayley Marie Kohle, 26, Canadian fashion model, suicide by jumping. Badar Munir, 68, Pakistani actor, complications of cardiac arrest. Scarlett, 13, American stray cat, name source of the Scarlett Award for Animal Heroism, animal euthanasia. Mark Shivas, 70, British film and television producer, Head of BBC Drama (1988–1993). Allan Spear, 71, American politician, first openly gay member of Minnesota Senate (1973–2000), complications of heart surgery. Gil Stratton, 86, American television and radio sportscaster (Los Angeles Rams, Santa Anita Racetrack), heart failure. Nelson Symonds, 75, Canadian jazz guitarist, heart attack,
12 Sukha Bose, 77, Indian cricket umpire. Lenvil Elliott, 57, American football player (San Francisco 49ers, Cincinnati Bengals), heart attack. Chuck Evans, 41, American football player (Minnesota Vikings), heart failure. Sir Dick Franks, 88, British Head of the Secret Intelligence Service (1979–1982). Roy K. Moore, 94, American FBI agent known for civil rights investigations, pneumonia. Cliff Nobles, 67, American pop musician, cancer. Rudolf Pangsepp, 87, Estonian book designer and artist. James E. Reilly, 60, American soap opera writer, complications from cardiac surgery. John R. Reilly, 80, American lawyer, adviser to six Democratic presidential candidates, cancer. Allan Rosenfield, 75, American physician, dean of Columbia University School of Public Health (1986–2008), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Emil Steinberger, 79, American physician, lung cancer.
13 Khryss Adalia, 62, Filipino film, television and stage director, colorectal cancer. *Pablo Barrachina Estevan, 95, Spanish bishop of Orihuela-Alicante (1954–1989). Alexei Cherepanov, 19, Russian ice hockey player, acute cardiomyopathy. Arthur J. Crowns, 86, American politician and academic lawyer. Guillaume Depardieu, 37, French actor, pneumonia. *Antonio José González Zumárraga, 83, Ecuadorian cardinal, stomach cancer. Luciana Pignatelli, 73, Italian socialite, suicide by drug overdose. Matthew J. Rinaldo, 77, American politician, member of the House of Representatives (1973–1993), Parkinson's disease. Paul Rogers, 87, American politician, member of the House of Representatives (1957–1979), lung cancer. Frank Rosenthal, 79, American gaming executive, sports handicapper, inspiration for the 1995 film Casino, heart attack. Eduardus Sangsun, 65, Indonesian bishop of Ruteng, heart attack. Françoise Seigner, 80, French comedian and actress, pancreatic cancer. Eduardo Serrano, 97, Venezuelan musician, conductor and composer. Adam Watene, 31, Cook Islands rugby league player, heart attack. Christopher Wicking, 65, British screenwriter.
14 Barrington J. Bayley, 71, British science fiction author, complications of colorectal cancer. Richard Cooey, 41, American convicted murderer, executed by lethal injection. Robert Furman, 93, American spy during World War II, foreign intelligence chief for Manhattan Project, metastatic melanoma. Antonio Iannucci, 94, Italian archbishop of Pescara-Penne (1959–1990). Ray Lowry, 64, British cartoonist and illustrator, after long illness. Anne Mackenzie-Stuart, 78, British political activist. Pat Moss, 73, British rally driver, cancer. Martin Peake, 2nd Viscount Ingleby, 82, British peer, activist for the disabled. Kazys Petkevičius, 82, Lithuanian basketball player and coach. Dame Daphne Purves, 99, New Zealand educator. Kevin Terris, 63, American racing driver.
15 Edie Adams, 81, American actress (Li'l Abner, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, The Apartment), Tony winner (1957), pneumonia and cancer. Fazıl Hüsnü Dağlarca, 94, Turkish poet, chronic renal failure. Nathan Davis, 91, American actor (Thief, Holes, Risky Business).